Tag: faith

Shower of Blessings

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Our world can be so disappointing – people lying to get ahead, just telling you and I what they think we want to hear.  Often, never actually intending to do what they say they will do.

God is just the opposite.

He always does what he says he is going to do.  He always keeps his promises.  He doesn’t always do things the way that we think he should but – then again –

he is God and we’re not –

he is perfect and we’re not –

we have a 3.5 lb brain while his is infinite, all-knowing and eternal –

You and I just need to accept that his ways are better than our’s.  I need to stand firm each day on the fact that God loves me and wants the best for me.

God and I have a personal relationship and he tells me about my part of this relationship and how he will respond in Leviticus 26:3 – 13, ” If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will….. ”

Okay, my part is to keep his commands and obey him.  In response, God says

he will bless my labor, what I do,

I will have food to eat and a safe place to live.

He will give me peace – I will lie down at night without fear.

He will remove danger and my enemies from my life.  I will have victory over  the evil that surrounds me.

God will look on me with favor and keep all of his promises.

I will prosper.  He will be my God and I will be his daughter.

I need to believe this and move forward confidently – with my head held high and my eyes focused on my Father.   Then I will receive these many blessings of obedience.

Amen.  May it be so, Abba Father.

Who?

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Who is in control of my life?

Who decides what I do with my time?  With my money?  Who is the director of my life – telling me when to go and when to stay?  What to say and how to say it?

The quick answer for us Christ-followers is ‘God”.

But let’s not just throw out this obvious answer and move on.  Let’s ask ourselves – is he?  Really?

What happened to your last paycheck?  How much of it went for God’s purposes?

Why did you rent this last apartment or buy the house you live in?  Did God direct you to make that decision because he has a purpose for where you live?

How about your job – did God lead you to that place?  Is he working there through you?  Or your main hobby – is God using that for his glory?  Or is it taking your time away from a deep, personal relationship with God?

The Israelites lived in a theocracy as they travelled through the desert and into the Promised Land.  God was King.  No one else told they what to do, where to go, what to eat, or how to dress.  God did all of it.

I want my life to be lived in a theocracy.  As I have grown to know God better and I’m able to hear his voice more clearly, he has gradually taken over in most parts of my life.

But not all.  I can’t honestly say he is the King of everything in my life.  I still have areas of self-centeredness and trying to be in control (total waste of energy because I am not and ever have been in control – neither are you, by the way).  Worry, fear and lack of patience with others are proof that these areas are not under God’s control.

I know I’m in the process of becoming what God intended me to be.  I know it’s a journey….

and I’m glad you’re on this journey with me.

I’m getting off the throne now, Father.  Please take your seat.

 

Hold Loosely

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Stuff

Boxes of stuff.

Rooms of stuff.

Garages and basements full of stuff.

Stuff we’re not using but someone else would use it – if they had it.

Stuff that hasn’t fit us for many years but we still can’t give it away.  Stuff that’s broken and we’ve never found the time to fix it but we still can’t part with it.

God never meant for us to keep all of our stuff for ourselves.

God told the Israelites that their 50th year in the Promised Land was supposed to be a Year of Jubilee.  During this year, all of the poor people who had sold themselves as slaves were supposed to be freed and all property which had been sold was given back to the original owner.  It was intended to be a year consecrated for redemption and freedom.

Does it surprise you that my research shows that the Year of Jubilee was never observed?

I’m not surprised.  Our culture has taught us to hold our belongings and our stuff very close.  We don’t give stuff away.  We worked hard for these things.  We earned them.  They will be ‘worth something someday’.

Well, they are worth something to someone else who has less than us today if we could just loosen our grip on them.

The Israelites couldn’t do it, either, so they lost the chance to see God work in a supernatural way in their lives.  They didn’t experience the joy and freedom of having open hands when it came to their ‘stuff’.

God wanted this to be a holy year for the Israelites where they would see his provision for them as they gave the property back to the original owners and set the slaves free.

But it never happened.

What about me?  What about you?  Are we holding loosely onto our belongings and stuff while we hold tightly onto God?  Are we seeing God work supernaturally in our lives because we spend more time and energy on loving him than we do with the things we own?

Do we own our stuff?  Or does our stuff own us?

Please help us hold loosely to everything that is not about loving you and loving others, Abba Father.

Blessed

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment
Aaronic Benediction, 2018

“The Lord bless you and keep you,”

I desire your blessing, Father.  Please keep me close to your side.  Draw me even closer when the waves of trials and the unknown try to overwhelm me.  Hold me tightly when the struggles seem too difficult to endure.

“The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you,”

Shine the light of your love and truth in my life each day, Father.  Help me push back the darkness that is all around me.  May your grace overflow in my life to others so they want to know you.

“The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

Yes, Father.  I want to know you better and see you more clearly as you move in my life.  Grow my trust in you, Father.  I know that it’s through my trust in you that you will give me peace.

Please give me peace, Abba Father.

Little by Little

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

One step at a time.

Deciding to trust God’s direction with my next decision even though I have no idea how this is going to work out.

Persevering through each struggle, not losing sight of the Light.

“Little by little”.  Moses uses these words as he is speaking to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land.  “The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little.”

Then Moses said, “You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once or the wild animals will multiply around you.”

I’m on my 7th year of reading the entire Bible and God has never bolded these words (figuratively) and stopped me here before. God did not give the Israelites victory over all of their adversaries all at once because the wild animals would have taken over the empty land.

I would love it if God would just take my trials and problems away – all of them – all at once.  Take them all away, Father!

But God doesn’t do that.  Little by little, step by step, he leads me through the struggles.  He draws me closer as together we move through the confusing and dark times.  God does not eliminate all of my issues because then I would be very tempted to count on myself and not on him.  I need to remain dependent on him or wild animals (bad choices and wrong thinking) will also multiply around me.

But little by little is so hard, Father!  Not knowing how it all turns out is very difficult.

Except –

when I’m trusting God.  When I’m breathing and moving in line with my Father God, I only need to keep my eyes on him and take the next step.

Because God’s got the rest.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Gathered to my People

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

He died.

She passed away.

He was killed.

God tells us in Numbers 20 that Aaron was ‘gathered to his people”.

I like that.  It makes great sense when someone is a believer.  His people are in heaven.  His Father is in heaven.  And his Savior is in heaven.

So – where are my people?

God has blessed me by giving me a family with a very long lineage of Christ-followers.   Many generations of my people are in heaven.

The people I identify with here on earth are also Christ-followers.  These are my people.  They will be with me when I am gathered to my Father – when I am gathered to my people.

I’m tempted to start using that phrase with believers instead of ‘died’ or ‘passed away’.  Some people wouldn’t get it but that’s ok – some people don’t get a lot of things.

How about you?  Are your people in heaven?  Is your Savior in Heaven?  If so, then he has prepared a place for you.

Will you be with me when all believers are gathered to our Father in Heaven?

I hope and pray that you will.

Thank you for always keeping your promises, Abba Father.

Different

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Obviously different.

Not rolling with the mainstream of culture.

Not just going a slightly different way on the same road as everyone else – actually travelling an entirely separate road.

A different spirit.

In Numbers, God tells us ‘my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly.”

What an awesome tribute to Caleb!

Can God say that about me today?  What about you?

Have I been transformed deep inside of my soul where my spirit lives?  Have I been significantly changed by experiencing the mercy of God?   Has my thinking radically changed since I let God into my head?  Has my love for God and love for others taken over my calendar and my bank account – does God own my heart?  Are my eyes focused on God or on other people?

If not, I’m not very different from everyone else around me.  Going to church and reading the Bible doesn’t give me a different spirit.  Letting God and his truth rule in my heart and mind changes me.

Please help us have a different spirit which follows you wholeheartedly,  Abba Father.

We Can’t

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

We can’t – it’s too hard.

We can’t – it’s too much.

We can’t – we don’t know how.

We can find a lot of reasons why we think we can’t do something that’s going to be difficult.  But – if God wants it done – there is no “we can’t”.  “We can’t’ just doesn’t apply when the Creator of the Universe wants to do something through us.

Have we learned that yet?

Have I learned that yet?

The Israelites obviously hadn’t figured that out yet when the spies came back from the Promised Land and said, “We can’t attack those people, they are stronger than we are.”  They didn’t get it.  God had said he was going to give them the land, he was going to give them victory.  “We can’t” was true but God could.  And he promised that he would.

Joshua and Caleb got it.  Caleb said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Yeah, Caleb!  He was so right!  Yes, they could certainly do it because God had promised and he always keeps his promises.

It’s all about putting feet to our faith, not about having enough strength or enough money or enough time.  God enables us to do the things he wants us to do.  Do you believe that?

So I have to ask myself – are there any ‘I can’ts’ in my life that I need to change to ‘I can’s” because God wants to do it through me?

What about you?  Any ‘I can’ts’ that God wants you to change?

Thank you for being our God of the Impossible, Abba Father.

 

Never Too Short

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

There are times when I am tired and discouraged,

and other days when I am confused and fearful.

And then I have hours of impatience and frustration.

When is God going to do something about this problem?

When is he going to take care of this struggle?

How can God possibly work this out for my good?  I just don’t see how he’s going to do that.  Or if he’s going to do that.  Maybe it’s not going to happen.

Then God responds to me like he did to Moses thousands of years ago, ” Is the LORD’S arm too short?”

I just have to smile.  This really sets me back in my place.  Because – of course, God’s arm is not too short.  He is the Creator of the Universe, the Great I AM.  He sees and knows everything.  Nothing is impossible for him.

When God said this to Moses, Moses was doubting that God could provide meat for all of the Israelites for a month.  They had started grumbling about eating manna everyday and God responded by saying, “Tomorrow you will eat meat.”

As the leader of these complainers, Moses thought he had to ‘help God’ by figuring out how to get this done.  But he just didn’t see a way to make this happen.  There were not enough animals on land or fish in the sea to feed all of the Israelites meat for a month.  It was impossible!

Yes, it was impossible for human hands.  But there are no limits for God.  His arm is never too short – it reaches across universes that we don’t even know about yet.

So we should not be surprise that the Israelites ate meat – they ate meat until they were sick of it.

God’s arm is not too short but sometimes our faith can be too small.  My faith can be too limited.

Do I really believe that God’s arm is never too short?

Does my life show it?

Please grow our faith, Abba Father.

Looking For Shade

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Shade is an important issue in the desert.  I live in Phoenix so I have become an expert at looking for shade.

At my grandson’s flag-football game just this week, we were all huddled under canopies and sun umbrellas.  It might be cold where you live, but our winter – especially this year – is hot and sunny.  It was really hot at his game with the sun beating down on us.  Some of the grocery stores in our city are starting to cover their parking lots with solar panels – getting some extra revenue and providing shade for their customers and their customer’s cars.  It’s a great idea!  There are a lot of us who would drive several extra miles to get covered parking while we shop.

Shade.

In their journey to the Promised Land, the Israelites spent many years walking through the desert.  In Numbers, we are told that ‘the cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.”  I have read that many times but I just realized that God was not only guiding them.  He is providing shade for them.  Much-needed shade.

At night, God’s cloud would settle over the tabernacle and look like fire.  This made it possible for everyone to still see it in the dark – a constant reminder of God’s presence and care for them.

When God wanted the Israelites to move, the cloud would lift off of the tabernacle and become a shady guide for their journey.

How great it would be to have my own cloud!  It would show me the way – telling me when to go and when to stay.  I have air conditioning, covered parking and sun umbrellas so I don’t need the shade but I could really use his clear guidance.

Oh, yeah.  I have my own cloud.  God has given me his Word and the Holy Spirit.  He has promised to light my path as I read and listen carefully and obey.  He constantly reminds me through his Word how he is with me and he cares for me.

I’ve got all the guidance I need.

Thank you for still being our cloud, Abba Father.